Well the Capital District EV Driver's Group's first ever EV event went great and we had 31 EV's in attendance! The above picture even made it to the top of the Sierra Club's blog entry for the National Plug-in Day weekend recap.



One of the seven Nissan Leafs in attendance.



Glenn Marcucio had the most impressive display by bringing both of his EV's plus a borrowed i-Miev dealership sign from Goldstien Mitsubishi. He actually hauled the 6.5' tall sign in the back of his Chevy Volt! His wife followed him to the event in their custom striped Mitsubishi i-Miev.



Tony Milillo's Mitsubishi i-Miev.



A few other pics from the event:




Above is Dr. Otward Mueller. His Smart ED was the very first one delivered in our area. He explained to me that his EV has an absolute zero carbon footprint, as he powers it completely off of the grid. He designed his own solar charger for the car. He works for MTECH Laboratories in Ballston Spa. This man is a genius and it was a pleasure to meet him.


John Razzano's poses next to his Ford C-Max Energi during the group photo. That's Todd Schroeder from Access Technologies Integrated on his left with his Volt.


Al and Annabelle Smith's stunning new Tesla Model S.


..... and Jodi Smits Anderson even brought out her Segway!


Ann Zownir brought this Smart ED demo out for test drives from Keeler's Smart Center of Latham.

Larry Eckhaus' Smart ED [Electric Drive] model. It's unusual, but that's how the hood opens!

We had 31 EV's in attendance. Here we are lining them up for the parade on Route 9.

 

Thanks to all of the Volt owners who came out to join us, including Aaron Markham, Glenn Marcucio, Todd Schroeder, James Bouleris, Paul Slazas, and Frank Tilke. It was a nice showing for Volts!

Here is a video clip that was taken by Dave Tagliaferro during the EV parade. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZeHszFc3-g

 

Yesterday I held the first drive event for my Capital District EV Driver's group, up to the summit of Mt. Greylock. This is the highest point in Massachusetts.



We had five EV's participate. Two Fit EV's, two Leafs, and one Smart ED. Our first order of business was to drive over to Bob's Country Kitchen in Lanesboro, MA for lunch. Then we headed up for the scenic drive to the summit





The weather was perfect and we got some great pictures.











After enjoying the camaraderie at the summit and swapping stories, we all went our separate ways, but made a plan to reset our trip meters and try to record our rates of regeneration on the 8 mile decent to the lower visitor's center. Here's the raw data that I can offer from my Fit EV:

I left the peak with 29 miles remaining on my distance to empty readout. After the drive down to the lower visitor's center my display rose up to 54 miles remaining. The trip computer said I had traveled 8 miles, recaptured 7.9 miles worth of current, with just .1 mile of actual usage. From the Visitor center down and back home it read: 26 miles traveled, 7.8 miles recaptured, for a total of 18.4 miles of actual electrical usage. In my garage it showed 40 miles of range remaining with a 36% charge left. Travis' Fit EV had 25% charge remaining when he got home to Nassau. [He carried additional passengers up the mountain and lives a bit further away than I do.] This performance was a pleasant surprise for both of us, because we didn't know for sure that we could make the 70 mile round trip [plus the climb to the top], let alone get home with 36% charge left over!

I sure hope we can a few Volt owners to join us next time.

Mike

 

2014 Capital Region National Drive Electric Event!

We are very pleased to announce this year's National Drive Electric Week event.

What: Our second annual all electric vehicle event.

When: Sunday, September 21, 2014

Where: Guptill's Arena/Coney Express 1085 Route 9 Cohoes, NY, [on the Cohoes/Latham border].

We look forward to surpassing last year's record of 31 EV's.

This facility has a huge fully paved lot that hosts car shows of over 500 vehicles, so space is not a problem. They also have a locally famous outdoor ice cream stand [Guptill's Coney Express] on the premises with ice cream available [as well as hot dogs.] There is fun for the whole family, as their giant indoor roller skating arena is the largest in the US.

Hours: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Please register your Volts at: https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=132

Don't worry that your plans might change at the last minute. The important thing is to get your name on our list and support EV's in our area.

Thank you,
Michael Kamm
Albany Capital District EV Driver's Group

 

Electric Auto Awareness Day 2014 - Saratoga Auto Museum

The Albany Capital District EV Drivers will be holding an Electric Vehicle Lawn Show at the Saratoga Auto Museum. This is a great opportunity for the public to learn about and even experience electric automobiles in a beautiful park like setting. Their members are enthusiastic about their electric cars and are eager to inform the public of their advantages as daily transportation. Many will offer rides to interested spectators. This event is also open to other types of all-electric vehicles as well, including motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, low speed neighborhood vehicles, even Segways.

Join in for our EV parade through Saratoga Spa State Park!

Date: Saturday, August 23, 2014 [rain date Sunday, August 24th.]

Hours: 10 am to 3 pm.

Location: 110 Avenue of the Pines, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Contact: Michael Kamm
Send a Private message through this forum or call me at (518) 674-0520.

 

Albany area N.D.E.W. event - Sunday September 21st.

Please come out and join us for our second annual National Drive Electric Week event at Guptill's Arena in Latham [technically Cohoes].

https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=132

We've got 11 Volts already pre-registered, but we'd love to have yours added to the mix. We will start the event by meeting 2 miles away at Falls View Park in Cohoes [231-341 N Mohawk St, Cohoes, NY 12047 for your GPS] for our EV parade. This will be at 10:30 am. At 10:50 am we will start the 2 mile parade on 9R [Manor Ave.] and make a grand entrance to our show at Guptill's at 11:00 am.

Confirmed new EV's available for test drives:

Fuccillo Nissan - LEAF EV
Keeler Mercedes - B-Class Electric Drive
Mangino Mitsubishi - i-Miev EV
Smart Center of Latham - Smart ED
Zero Motorcycles - three electric bikes, the S, DS, and FX models.

There will even be a Spark EV there!

Please join us!

Day: Sunday, September 21, 2014

Time: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

Location: Guptill's Arena/Coney Express
1085 Route 9
Cohoes, NY 12047

 

Upcoming events for 2015

Then on Sunday, September 13th, we will be having our biggest event of the year, our 3rd annual National Drive Electric Week event at Guptill's.

https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=327

Please take a moment and sign up!

Mike

 

2015 Albany Capital District NDEW event announcement

Our biggest event of the year, for National Drive Electric Week!

Event registration page and full details: https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=327